This invention relates to an automatic mechanism for repeatedly cutting slices from a block of frozen food material. In particular the invention provides an improvement whereby the mechanism can be programmed to change the thickness of the slices at a specific point in the slicing sequence and then resume cutting slices of the original thickness upon the start of the next sequence. The programmable adjustment can provide at least two different thicknesses from each block of material.
The present invention represents an improvement in slicing apparatus as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,736,829 and No. 3,832,929 issued to applicant, and the contents of those patents are hereby incorporated into this application by reference.
The automatic slicing apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,736,829 and No. 3,832,929 is particularly useful in the frozen fish processing industry. In that industry, standard-size frozen blocks of flaked and compressed fish are subdivided into individual portions of suitable size for restaurant and home use. Generally, it is inefficient to use a single slicing machine to divide a single block of frozen fish into the smallest desired components. Rather it is more advantageous to use a primary saw to divide the main block into a group of smaller slabs which are then distributed to auxiliary slicers to be subdivided further. Once a fish processer has identified the size of the initial block of frozen fish, the size of the resulting end products, and the number of pounds per hour to be processed, he can determine the configuration which will achieve this desired production output most efficiently.
For example, assume that the processer is to divide the frozen block into twenty slices of equal thickness, each of which eventually will be cut into individual portions. If only a single slicing machine is used, nineteen individual cuts through the block will be required to provide the twenty finished slices, assuming there is no residue to be trimmed. However, if there is an additional slicing machine having similar capabilities, the primary saw can be adjusted to divide the initial block into ten slabs of double the desired thickness. Thus the primary saw will make only nine slicing cuts to produce the thicker slabs, instead of the nineteen cuts in the previous situation. Then each of these slabs is fed to the second saw to be further subdivided into the two individual slices, while simultaneously the primary saw continues to produce more slabs. In this way the same amount of finished product is produced in approximately half the time.
Alternatively, if additional auxiliary saws are provided, the primary saw can be set to divide the initial block into five slabs comprising four slices each. Obviously, this requires the primary saw to make only four cuts per block. Then the five-slice-thick slabs can be fed on a staggered basis into various auxiliary slicers. In this manner, assuming that the proper number of auxiliary saws is used to keep up with the output of the primary saw, the same amount of finished product can be generated in approximately one-quarter of the time required by the primary saw alone.
Such slicing and feeding arrangements are known in the art. However, there is a particular situation in which a lack of flexibility in the primary saw limits the increase in productivity achievable with such an arrangement. For example, consider the case where the initial block of material is to be divided into a number of slices which is a prime number, that is, a number divisible only by itself or the number one, e.g. nineteen. In order to increase production considerably, the block could be separated into six slabs comprising three slices each and be distributed to auxiliary slicers as above. However, there will be a single-thickness slice left over after the six slabs are removed. Typically, the auxiliary saws do not have the capability for processing and handling the single-thickness slice. Separate handling personnel or equipment are required to convey this slice to the area where the final slices are cut up into the finished product. Due to this added expense, generally the single slice is set aside until a sufficient number have been accumulated, and then a group of individual slices is broken down into the final form by a manual cutting operation, which is understandably time-consuming, inefficient and uneconomical.
Another problem encountered in the prior art is the tendency of a finished slice to adhere to the remainder of the block upon completion of a single cutting stroke, typically due to melting and subsequent refreezing of the abutting surfaces. When the remainder of the block is retracted to an initial position for the removal of additional slices, it draws the adhering slice partially back toward the initial position. The retracted slice interferes with further slicing operations.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a mechanism for optimizing the productivity of a frozen food slicing apparatus by producing slabs of different thicknesses automatically from a single block of frozen material.
It is a further object of the present invention to enhance the productivity of existing automatic slicing apparatus in an efficient, inexpensive, and reliable manner.
It is a further object of the present invention to ensure that completed slices, which have been severed from a block of material, are not reinserted into the operating area of a slicing apparatus to interfere with subsequent slicing operations.